A few days ago, I discovered that IMDb has a really incredible advanced search function. It allows visitors to break films down by rating, genre, dates, keyword, voter scores, the film’s country of origin, and just about anything else you can imagine. If you want to find out how many Japanese movies were released from January 1, 1952 to August 19, 1955, featuring the keyword “shot with a bow and arrow”, it’s right at your fingertips (there’s only one of those, by the way). Using their advanced search function, I’ve fleshed out an infographic about the films that make up the database.

I’m sure there are thousands of people voting for films they didn’t even have seen and they just looking forward to the release… Many people mthrow things at me when I say that their Top 250 isn’t reliable… Well, here’s another proof! Great database though!

It’s interesting to watch a film’s IMDB score drop over time. Usually the Monday after it opens, the score is at its highest. 6 months after it has been on cable and video, usually the score is much lower. Any hyped movie that has a score less than 7 after opening weekend – stay away!
I thought ‘Throne of Blood’ may have been the 1 Japanese movie with someone shot by an arrow, but it was released in 1957.

The one bow and arrow movie is Seven Samurai, so you were absolutely on the right track. Ha… and it just dawned on me which scene would make Throne of Blood qualify if it was in the timeframe. That scene was awesomely cathartic.

Your IMDb score rule, about how long it’s been out and how the rating drops, also works for Rotten Tomatoes. Thor started out at 94% or something crazy after opening weekend. It’s currently at 77%.

These infographics are bloody brilliant! Some really interesting stats here; particularly the lack of 9.0 ratings for pre-70s flicks. I would expect that number to be low…but one? Yike. The percentage of films by genre per decade chart is freaking impressive. The reviews/ratings on IMDB from the general public make me a bit nuts frankly. More than a few films I love and adore have received a failing grade. That said, IMDB has been an absolutely invaluable resource for the fact based stuff.

I sort of go the other way with those rankings. The Dark Knight, for instance… I loved The Dark Knight. But it makes me a sad panda to see it with a higher rating than, say, The Seventh Seal, The General, Ikiru, etc…

For the record, the one movie pre-1970 with the 9.0 or better is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The percentage per genre per decade info is fascinating to me. It’s like a tiny little sociology lesson. I’ll be writing more about that soon (i.e. tomorrow).